Teen arrested in deaths of soldier, wife

Four days after the “senseless violent crime” that left a Fort Carson soldier and his pregnant wife dead, a 17-year-old Colorado Springs boy was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder , Colorado Springs police said.
After a nearly two-hour standoff with police Macyo Joelle January was...

You've reached your 4 FREE premium stories for this 30 day period*

To continue reading please register for FREE below.

Four days after the “senseless violent crime” that left a Fort Carson soldier and his pregnant wife dead, a 17-year-old Colorado Springs boy was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder , Colorado Springs police said.

Related Information

Related Articles (2)

After a nearly two-hour standoff with police Macyo Joelle January was arrested Thursday evening at an apartment complex in the 3900 block of East Bijou Street . He is accused in the slaying of Staff Sgt. David Dunlap, 37, and Whitney Butler, 35, said police spokeswoman Barbara Miller .

Dunlap’s and Butler’s deaths by gunshot wound were declared homicides this week by the El Paso County Coroner’s Office. On Monday afternoon they walked into their home at 222 Bassett Drive and surprised January, who allegedly had broken into the home. He then allegedly shot the couple and fled, police said. A Colorado Springs Utilities crew doing maintenance in the area saw a man flee the residence and called 911, neighbors said.

Residents of The Vista Apartments on East Bijou Street were evacuated for about two hours Thursday evening, and many tried to keep warm in cars parked along the street. Meanwhile, a police bomb squad and K-9 unit zeroed in on January and arrested him along with three other individuals in an apartment, police said. The three others were wanted on outstanding warrants not connected to the Dunlap-Butler killing, Miller said.

After two false leads on Monday night, police identified January as a suspect, Miller said. He appeared not to have a specific home address, and was a “nomad” moving around to several places, Miller added. It was round-the-clock detective work that led police to January, not a tip, although January’s photo and warrant for his arrest were released late Wednesday night.

Miller would not provide any further details of how police tracked January after the killings.

“This case was such a senseless violent crime that it shook our detectives to the core,” Miller said at a brief news conference after the arrest was made.

Dunlap was a helicopter mechanic for Fort Carson’s new combat aviation brigade, and had arrived in Colorado Springs just two months ago, the post said Wednesday. He was a mechanic for the AH-64D Apache attack helicopter, and was deployed once to Iraq, from June 6, 2007 through Aug. 6, 2008. His wife, Butler, worked for Enterprise Rent-A-Car and was three months pregnant, according to friends of the couple.